1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to an appliance control method and apparatus for implementing environmental load reduction and energy saving.
2. Description of the Related Art
A survey conducted by the Japan Consumer Information Center reveals that 90% or more of the population is interested in energy saving. It is however said that the energy consumption of the civilian sector is still on the increase, and there is a gap between environmental awareness and behavior.
As measures for energy saving in households, there are two measures, namely improving the performance of energy-consuming appliances and houses and controlling the amount of energy used. Controlling the amount of energy used further includes automatic control by hardware and indirect control by information presentation.
Automatic control by hardware is a technique of implementing energy saving by adjusting an energy-consuming appliance so as to save unnecessary operation based on information from a sensor (e.g., a temperature sensor or a pyroelectric sensor). A simple example of this technique includes a method of switching on and off lighting based on a human detection sensor. This technique also includes a method of turning on a lighting fixture at a necessary illuminance by measuring the position of a person and an illuminance (for example, JP-A 2007-200715 (KOKAI)) and a method of controlling an air-conditioning appliance by measuring the position of a person, a temperature, and a humidity (for example, JP-A 2007-107782 (KOKAI)). There is also available a method of performing power saving control by determining the optimal operation mode of an electronic appliance from its operation state and manipulation state (for example, JP-A 2007-259647 (KOKAI)).
Some conventional appliance control methods and apparatuses sometimes execute inappropriate control against the will of an inhabitant, e.g., turning off lighting in spite of the presence of the inhabitant in a room. Alternatively, the prior art can control only the operation of an appliance which surely performs unnecessary operation so as not to execute inappropriate control.